frederickson



April 9, 1929. o. AJFREDERlCKSON 1,708,537

CONDUCTOR COVERING MACHINE Filed Aug. 20, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 I ll, :0 31m 4 7 es 1 as 4 55 .9 ?2

' I 2.9 V y 42 by, I by Y 72 16 x A 2? a N LL 43 v 44 W I //v I/E/V 70/? 4% 45 2 ATTORNEY April 9, 1929- o. A. FREDERICKSON CONDUCTOR COVERING MACHINE Filed Aug. 20, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet /A/ l/ENTOR;

Y w n m T A April 9, 1929.

Q. A. FREDERICKSON Filed Aug. 20, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jllllllllllllll April 9, 1929- o. A. FREDERICKSON CONDUCTOR COVERING MACHINE Filed Aug. 20, 192'? 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 /Nl/ENTOR. @121: 4. $2M BY v! ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 9, 1929.

UNITEDIS'TATES A 1,708,537 PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO A. EREDERICKSON, OF WETHERSFIELD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WIRE- MOLD COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

CONDUCTOR-COVERING MACHINE.

Application filed August 20, 1927. Serial No. 214,426.

This invention relates to a machine for placing successive coverings one over the other about an electric conductor, and more particularly to a wrappingattachment for conductor covering machines.

In the manufacture of insulated electric conductors it is frequently desirable to provide the conductor witha protecting covering formed of strands that are braided, woven or otherwise interlocked about the conductor so that the strands will not readily unravel to expose the conductor, and over the interlocked strands may be placed a pro and the present invention relates to an im-' proved form of wrapping attachment which may be applied to thebralding machlne of said patent or to other forms of braiding.

machines or to different forms of conductor covering machines so that these machines will not only operate to form a covering of interlocked strands, but will serve also to wrap a protecting covering about the covering of interlocked strands Another feature of the invention resides in electric stop mechanisms associated with the wrapping attachment and operable to stop the cover forming machine when a wrapping strand breaks or becomes too slack.

The various features of the invention and novel combination of parts will-be hereinafter described in connectionwith the accompanying drawings which illustrate one good practical form thereof.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a=perspective View of a braiding machine provided with the novel wrapping attachment of thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 on an. enlarged scale is a vertical sectional view through Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view of an electrical connection;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the wrapping mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the wrapping attachment Fig. 6 is anenlarged plan view of electrical stop mechanism for one of the wrapper-forming strands; and Fig. 7 is a side view of the same with parts in section.

The wrapping attachment of the present invention may be associated with various forms of machines that are adapted to produce a covering of interlocked strands about the conductor. In the drawings a braider is shown as one form of means for applying such first cover but this is merely illustrative of one application of the invention and it will be understood that the first covering maybe braided, woven or otherwise applied, whereupon the second covering is directly applied by the wrapping attachment of the present invention.

The greater portion of the braiding machine shown in the drawings is of well known construction and operates in a well known manner, but is herein shown and described to make clear the manner in which the machine of the wrapping attachment of the present inthe braiding machine revolve.

Within the annular table 10 is rotatably mounted the outer revolving drum 16 which is provided with the hub portion 17 that is secured to the outer portion of the drum by thehorizontallyextending spokes 18. The hub 17 is. journaled upon a hollow rotating shaft 19 which shaft is journaled upon the fixed shaft 14 and to the upper end of the rotatingshaft 19 is rigidly secured the driving frame 20 adapted to drive the inner yarn carriers. A driving gear 21 is secured to the under face of the flanged'portion 18' of the outer revolving" drum, and a similar driving gear 22 is rigidly secured to the rotating. shaft 19. The outerrevolving drum 16 and driving frame arero tated in opposlte' directions by the pinion 23 which meshes with the upper and lower gears 21 and 22, and this pinion is secured to and is driven by the shaft 24 that is rotatably supported by the frame or table 10.

The outer revolving-drum 16 is provided with the usual thread-receiving slots 25 through whlchthe strands of yarn from the outer carriers may pass to the braiding point, and'upon the upper end of the outer revolving drum is mounted the top ring 26 which serves tosupport the outer yarn carriers. In the construction shown these carriers are supported by upstanding brackets 27 which are boltedto the top ring and each of these brackets has ashaftreceiving socket adapted to receive a'transversely extendlng shaft 28 upon which is mounted an outer yarn'mass 29.- The brackets 27 are also pro ivided with upwardly extendingarms 30 adapted to support the strand guidingring 31 about which the strands are drawn as they are unwoundfrom the yarn masses. At the innerface of the outer revolving drum 16'is provided thefgrooved runway 32 adapted toreceive a projection provided at the outer end of each inner yarn carrier Each inner yarn'carrier 33 is shown as havinga hollow frame adapted to receive-a ,yarn mass 34 and the inner end of each inner yarn carr er is supported by arotating disk 35 thatmests upon a fixed annular frame 36 which frame is rigidly secured to the upper end of the-fixed central post 14.

Each inner yarn'carrier 33 is provided at its outer end with PIOJBCtIDg shoes which extend into the annular groove 32. The

. inner carriers 33 are driven by the push trated the wheels 3'7 that are advanced around the cen.

tralhaxis of the braiding machine by the.

driving frame 20and these push'wheels co operate withthe disks 37 mounted upon the inner carriers. I

In the t. pe of b aiding machine illurbysdirecting the inner carriers over =some strands38 extending from the outer supply 7 of 'yarn tothe braiding point and under other strands. The passage of the inner car-' rim-s33 over some strands-38 and under others is effected, in the construction shown, by providing the outer frame 10. of the braiding machine-witlrthe' fixed deflectors 39, and each inner yarn carrier is'providec near its outer end with a deflector plate 40 the nose of which is so positioned that it will pass over the strands 38 when the same are held in a stretched condition between the braidingpoint' and the strand guides 41 mounted upon the outer revolving drum 16 ormation of the braid iseffectedas shown. As the outer revolving drum 1t rotates in the direction indicated by the arrows one thread 38'after another will be elevated by the fixeddeflectors 39, and as a result the inner yarn carriers 33rwill'pass The braiding machine illustratedflin the drawing is employed to place acovering of braid about an electric conductor 42 which under the elevated strands 38 and over those that are not elevated.

conductor passes upwardly through the hol-' 7 low fixedshaft 14 from a supply reel 43 which reel is conveniently mounted on transversely extending shaft 44 the ends of which are journaled in brackets 45 secured to the legs 11 of the braiding machine. The electric conductor 42 is drawn upwardly through the braiding machine'by any suit able form of take-up mechanism such as a take-up wheel 46 which is supported above the braiding machine by a column 47, and

this wheel may be driven by'the co-operat ing gears48 and 49' the latter of which 'is' secured to a shaft 50' that is driven by a sprocket chain 51. Thecovered conductor upon leaving the take-up wheel 46 passes downwardly to the take-up reel 52 which may bedriven by the co-operating gears and 54, and the traverse mechanism55- is provided to coil the covered conductor42 smoothly about the take-up reel. The various parts of the braiding machine are driven form the covering of braid about the con ductor 42 as the latter is fed upwardly through the braiding machine,'and as above stated the primary feature of the present invention residesin a wrapping attachmentwhich may be applied to a braider or other form of machine for producing interlocked strands about a conductor, the construction and operation of the wrapping device being such that it will place a covering of wrapping material over the covering formed ofinterlocked strands. This wrapping attach- -ment, as illustrated in the drawings, consists of a spider frame best shown in F-ig. 5* and having a bridge bar 59 near the opposite ends of which are provided .the spreading legs 60 atthe ends of which are formed feet be controlled by the hand lever 61 that are adapted to'be secured by bolts 7 62'to the upper face'of thetopring 26; the

arrangement being "such that this spider frame will rotate with the top rin and yarn carriers mounted thereupon/ T e bridge bar 59 is provided with ahub 63 in which is mounted the braidingdie'64 the lowerend of which is positioned toguide the outer.

strands of yarn 38 and the inner strands of yarn to the braiding point. It should be noted that as a result of the construction just described the braiding die 64; is rotated with the outer revolving drum instead of being held in a fixed position as is customary in the ordinary braiding machine. In order to form a covering of wrapping material over the braided covering 66, it is merely i'iecessary to support the desired number of yari'r masses 67 upon the outer revolving ring 26 so that therotative movement oi? this ring will serve to wrap the strands of wrapping material 68 about the covered conductor, as will be apparent from Fig. 4i. The strands 68 preferably are led from the yarn masses 67 over the guide ring 31 and then inwardly to the conductor about which they are to be wrapped, and in order to insure the proper disposition oi the strands 68 upon the conductor a second uiding die 69 is "provided which is supported above and in spaced relation to the die G l by the upstanding bracket 70. lhe lower end of the die 69 is preferably provided with the strand receiving slots 71 adapted to receive the strands 68 and guide them about the electric conductor.

The braiding machine illustrated in the drawings is provided with only four outer yarn carriers 29, whereas, a sufiicient number of upstanding brackets 27 are provided to support eight outer yarn carriers; it is therefore feasible in the braiding construction shown to utilize the brackets 27 to sup port both the outer yarn carriers 28 and the outer yarn masses of wrapping material 67. It will be apparent, however, that if desired the yarn mass 67 might be supported upon the ring 26 in a position above the outer yarn carriers 28 rather than in the plane of these carriers, as shown.

It is desirable to provide the strands of wrapping material 68 extending inwardly from the supporting ring 31 to the wrapping die 69 with electric stop mechanism which will serve to stop the braiding machine in case these strands break or become too slack. This is accomplished by providing the spider frame 59 with the upstanding arms 7 2 to which are pivotally secured the drop wires 73, the arrangement being such that as long as the strands 68 are held taut. the wires 7 3 will be supported in the raised position as shown in Fig. 4, but when these strands break or become too slack, the wires will move downwardly until they rest upon the contact fingers 7st which fingers are electrically insulated from the supporting arms 72 upon which they are mounted, as will be apparent from Fig. 7. Each finger 72 is electrically connected, or is grounded to the main frame of the braiding machine by a conductor wire 75 one end of which is attached to the finger supporting bolt 76 and the other endof this wire is attached to a bolt 77 which is insulated from the worksupporting ring 26, but is secured to the upper end of the outer revolving drum 16, as will be apparent from-Fig. 3. y The work supporting ring 26 is insulated from the outer revolvingdrum which supports it by the insulating blocks 78 and as a result of the electrical connections .just described the electric circuit controlled by the drop wires 73 will not be closed to stop the braiding machine until one of the wires 7 3 is permitted to move downwardly into the position in which it is shown in full lines in Fig. 7 to engage the finger 74 thereupon the current supplied by a wire 75 will flow from a finger 74; through the drop wire 73 resting thereupon and from the latter through the spider frame 59 to the ring 26 from which ring the current may pass through a. contact brush, not shown, but which may be similar to the contact brush 86 shown in the O. A. Frederickson Patent No. 1,572,713, dated February 9, 1926, and the current passes from said contact brush to electrically controlled stop mechanism as in said patent.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description, when read in connection with the drawings, that when it is desired to convert a braiding machine of the general type herein described into a combined braiding and wrapping machine, all that is necessary is to provide such braiding machine with the spider frame 59 adapted to sup port the upper and lower guide dies 69 and 64 and arrange the Wrapping strands (38 as shown, so that during the operation of the braiding machine a' covering of braid will be placed about the electric conductor 42 at the braiding point defined at the lower end.

of the die 64, while at the same time the covering of wrapping material 79 will be placed over the braid at a point defined by the lower portion of the guiding die 69.

It will also be apparent thatthe wrapping attachment of the present invention may be mountedupon other forms of conductor covering machines than braiders so that as an electric conductor is advanced through the covering machine a covering of interlocked strands will be placed about the conductor and a covering of wrapping material will be placed over the covering of interlocked threads.

lVhat is claimed is 2- 1. In combination with a machine for forming a covering of interlocked strands about an electric conductor, a wrapping attachment adapted to be mounted upon said machine and rotated thereby to form a second covering upon the conductor, comprising a spider frame having a die supporting bridge bar and projecting feet for supporting the bar, means for wrapping a protecting covering about theconductor over the covering of interlocked strands, anda conductor receiving die supported by the bridge bar and adapted' to direct the Wrapper formingstrands about the conductor cover forming position.

forming a covering of interlocked strands about an electric conductor, a Wrapping at 2; In combination with a machine for .tachment. adapted to be'mounted upon saidv machine and rotated thereby to form a second covering upon the conductor, comprising a spider framehaving a bridge bar andpro jecting feet for supporting the bar, means for wrapping a protecting covering about the conductor over the covering of interlocked strands, and a pair of conductor receiving dies supported by the bridge bar in spaced relation to each other and one die being positioned to guide said interlocking strands about the conductor and the other die being positioned to direct the wrapper forming strands about the conductor.

v3. In combination-with a machine for forming a covering-oi interlocked strands for guiding the strands of the wrapped cover toward the wrapping point. p I

4. A' wrapping attachment for electric conductor covering machines, comprising a frame having a bridge bar and laterally into their spaced supporting feet at its ends, and a conductor receiving die mounted upon the bridge bar to form a guide for the conductor and constructed to guide the covering forming material onto the conductor. I q

'5. A wrapping attachment for electric conductor covering machines, comprising a frame having a bridge bar and laterally spaced supporting feet at its ends, a pair of conductor receiving dies mounted upon the bridge bar to form guides for the conductor and onedie being positioned to guide the material forming one covering onto the conductor and the other guide being positioned to guide the material forming the sea-011d covering onto the conductor.

6. A Wrapping attachment for electric conduit covering machines, comprising a.

spider frame, having a die holding portion and supporting feet, a conductor receivingdie mounted upon the spider frame to form a guide for the conductor and constructed to guide the cover forming material onto the conductor, and stop means supported by the spider frame and operable to stop the machine if the material being wrapped about the conductor and guided by said die breaks or becomes too slack. p

7. A wrapping attachment for electric conductor covering machines, comprising a spider frame having projecting legs-for at tachment'to the covering 1nachine,.a guide die mounted upon the frame and adapted to guide strands of wrapping material-to the Wrapping point upon the electric conductor uprights on said frame, and drop 'wires' mountedupon the uprights in position to engage thewrapper forming strands.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

OTTO A. FREDERICKSONQY 

